A fresh cold war between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, and the House Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, is causing tension among members of the 360-member legislature, The PUNCH learnt on Sunday.
Findings showed that the appointment of 96 chairmen of standing committees of the House on Thursday last week by Dogara was responsible for the latest rift.
Dogara had named 96 committee chairmen on Thursday, giving the majority All Progressives Congress 47 slots and the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, 46 seats.
On the list, many lawmakers seen as Dogara’s allies in both the APC and the PDP got first grade committees, such as Committee on Appropriation; Committee on Finance; Committee on Power; Committee on Aviation; Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream) and Committee on Basic Education, among others.
It was gathered that the House Leader was miffed that he was sidelined in the appointment of some of the chairmen, though on the surface an impression was created that he (Gbajabiamila) recommended a number of his allies for appointment.
An official of the National Assembly, who was well informed about the cold war, described the manner the committees were shared as “strategic politicking” by Dogara.
The source explained, “A lot of politics went into the committee issue. Yes, some persons considered to be loyalists of Gbajabiamila were appointed into committee positions.
“But Gbajabiamila did not play any role in their appointment. The Speaker did it himself apparently to win their loyalty and draw them closer to himself.”
Investigations revealed that early on Thursday morning, a meeting of principal officers was called by the Speaker to look at the list of chairmen he was to announce later that day.
A letter Gbajabiamila reportedly wrote to the Speaker on October 20 prompted the meeting.
“But at the meeting, those present were merely given the opportunity to look at the content of the committees’ list.
“This was not a meeting to raise objections on who should be on the list or not, as doing so would have easily pitted the principal officers against those already on the list,” another source added.
The PUNCH gathered that out of the 96 chairmen, the Speaker gave nine slots to Gbajabiamila’s allies.
The beneficiaries were Mr. James Faleke (Committee on Customs & Excise); Mr. Mohammed Monguno (Committee on Agricultural Services); Mr. Sani Zoro (Committee on IDPs); Mr. Yinka Ajayi (Committee on Aids/Loans); Mr. Jide Akinloye (Committee on Anti-Corruption); Mr. Peter Akpatason (Committee on Civil Societies); Mr. Kayode Oladele (Committee on Financial Crimes); Mr. Fakeye Olufemi (Committee on Insurance); and Mr. Balogun Yakub (Committee on Treaties/Protocol and Agreements).
Of the nine, only the Committee on Customs/ Excise and Committee on Agricultural Services qualified as first grade committees in the parlance of the House.
However, it was learnt that within the House, a message was said to have been passed around that the House Leader was allowed to nominate 30 committee chairmen.
However, the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs disagreed that there was disquiet among members over the manner the committee positions were distributed.
The committee said the allegation that Dogara gave “juicy committees” to his allies alone was untrue, adding that all interests were carried along in the sharing formula adopted by the Speaker.
The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, explained that by tradition, certain committees were reserved for particular zones of the country.
He said Dogara merely kept to the tradition while sharing the committees.
“It is worthy of note that the leadership of the House runs an all-inclusive administration with all Nigerians, having a sense of belonging, while not being unmindful of our party (the APC).
“This our disposition has reflected not only in the appointment of standing committees but also of ad hoc committees.
“This, we will continue to imbibe, for the consolidation of the House for good governance,” Namdas added.
He told The PUNCH that appointment of committees was a phase in the efforts to position the House for its legislative duties to Nigerians.
Namdas added that there was calm in the legislature, as the 96 chairmen and their 96 deputies were set to begin work this week.
Copyright PUNCH
